Wednesday, October 26, 2011

It is Wednesday and I am doing the happy dance because in two days I will be in Houston for Market....but I have been working extra hard with my Twister. My "adopted" daughter, Andrea, finally gave me some very good news. I am going to be an adopted "grandma" in May. I have been waiting for this news since last year. I am hoping for a little girl (I want to do lots of frilly things) but I will be thrilled with a boy too! So you know me....so impatient....I started with this.....

whipped out my little twister and a couple of hours later I had this....

Isn't so pretty and springy....going to be just right for a May baby. Haven't decided if I am going to put border on all four sides and make it fat and square.....or just a small border down the other two sides and make it longer and skinnier.....

I just can't get over what this little tool can do.

I course I admitted I was hoping for a girl....but I have the fabric laid out to do a boy quilt just like this one.....just in case....I figure she can use the one she needs and I will give the other one as a gift.

I already have the fabric laid out for 3 more of these little twister quilts. I like the big twister, too....but it takes a little more space to spread out and a little longer to put back together. The little ones just work up so quickly and they make me giggle.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Kit Lang - What do you see on your way to work? posted a picture of what she sees on the way to work every morning and invited everyone to share their view....so I decided to play along. I am so blessed to live and work in a basically rural area...no big cities for me. So here is one of the first things I see when I leave every morning....

and just for fun....thought I would show you what I see when I get to work....

I am the bookkeeper and general manager of a independently owned Chevron. Chevron is extremely strict on the requirements of how the station should look to meet their criteria. But these little birds are determined.....we take the nests down and within two to three days they put it back up. This is just one of them...they also build on the opposite side. The "e" seems to be the perfect spot for their nests. After taking the nest down two or three times....I gave up....the last Chevron inspection....they saw birds and nests. I figured if they graded me off, I could remind them of their "caring" commercials about nature and beauty not being disturbed. They are not hurting anyone and actually most people get a kick out of them as they hatch little ones at least twice a year. And as an added bonus....they earn their room and board by keeping all crumbs picked up off the parking lot.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

I got up early, drank my coffee and started in my sewing room. I am working on my "Big Twister" quilt one row at a time and I course being my impatient self....I cut another "Little Twister" and put it together. You see, cutting and resewing is my meditation....I kind of "zone the world out" when I am piecing. Other than those few morning minutes....life is like fighting fires right now.

But thanks to Kelly, I am trying harder to concentrate on wellness!

My purple fountain grass is really putting on a show

and the last rose of summer

I don't know who was enjoying it more.....me or the grasshopper!

Since I am not really a big fan of fall and winter this is going to be tough for me.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

I wasn't ready....Friends of the Library meeting Monday, Garden Club last night....ooh...quick pictures because I have been doing a little work on my quilts.....

I had to try the big twister....this is before....

and the first few rows....my sewing space isn't large and so I cut and sew back together as I go along...this is tougher...because there is so much fabric to hang on to as you are cutting. Can only work on it some mornings....so since I only had a little while Monday and Tuesday....I couldn't resist trying the little twister again....

made it smaller...thinking about making my pokeno pal some placemats out of this beautiful cardinal Christmas fabric...the cardinal is our Garden club bird and we both are members. She has a beautiful home and decorates a lot for the holidays.

Have to go to work....linking up to WIP#48.....go see what everyone is working on.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

For our veterans. These men and women provide protection for us in an unsafe world. Aren't we blessed! I don't know if I could do what they do. I am so thankful to all of them. In my younger days it was Vietnam War veterans. Everytime I meet one today, I shake their hand and tell them thank you. They had it rough when they came back from war. I abhor the way we are treating our veterans of the current wars. Their benefits are few, the pay is terrible....let me climb down off my soapbox.

So I have joined "Quilts of Valor"....I will find time to make blocks and I am so proud to be able to do so for our veterans.

Kelly over at Charming Chatter invited us all to report on Friday what we are doing to make our life less stressful and calmer. And since I follow Kelly every day, I couldn't resist trying this. I do find that my life is less stressful if I count my blessings everyday. And I do that when I get home early enough....which I haven't been doing that much of lately. But I think it is a great idea and I am going to work on it every week. One of the ways I count my blessings is by carrying my camera with me everyday and when I see something beautiful I stop and snap the picture.

Not a good week to start my wellness report....
Worked too much....yes
Weather not cooperating....yes
Days getting shorter....yes

But....I worked too hard so I could have everything done before I leave for Houston the end of this month for market :)

And....the mornings and evenings are so wonderfully cool...makes me want to get out in the yard :)

Nothing good about days getting shorter....I suffer from light depravation so I despise the Daylight Savings Time change. I love long days that start about 5:30 a.m. and end about 8 p.m. I love summer...the heat, the humidity, long days.

But my twisters made me smile and all the sweet visitors to my blog made me smile.

And my McKitty....oh, he had a very good week.
Treats :)
Long Naps :)
Head and Neck rubs :)
Doesn't seem to be affected by the shorter days.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Last Saturday I helped my LQS owner with a quilt show in Ponchatoula, La. I had a blast and I kept watching her demonstrate the "Twister". Now I bought both the small and large twister from her last December during her "Stuff Your Stuffing" promotion and as usual I still hadn't done anything with them because I was intimidated. Sunday I hunted down a layer cake that I had won at our Christmas party, spent the day sewing all the blocks together and then realized I had nothing in my fabric stash that matched in order to put a border on. Well that was frustrating....all that time....then I noticed I had a charm pack of Thimbleberries and said to myself....when you get lemons, make lemonade...and guess what....not only was it easy....it was so cool. I loved it.

I was so excited I got up Monday morning....grabbed some Christmas fabric and started sewing. Here's how it started:

and here's what it looks like now......

Now don't laugh at me....I was patting myself on the back....so proud of me and when I got down to the last row to attach....something looked off. Looking at the before picture I realized I wasn't very careful about how I layed out my 5" squares....but you know what....I still love it and I can't wait to make another one. A baby quilt comes to mind.

By the way.....I was too late to post last Wednesday...and I worked hard at getting that post together....please go look at it and enjoy my learning process.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

I love sending surprises and getting surprises.....so I need 3 people to sign up so that I can send them surprises...check out "Pay It Forward" in my earlier post. So many fun people coming over from Lily's and I am having a great time visiting everyone.

Why am I up at 3:48 in the morning....I am hurting...I spent yesterday helping my LQS owner at a show in Ponchatoula, Louisiana and I am getting old. Haven't stood on my feet on a concrete floor for that long in a long, long, time.....but it was so fun. Met so many fabulous quilters. Our sales were good and we made some great friends. So now I am sitting with a cold rice bag on my neck, a Goody's in front of me.....a warm cup of coffee to open my sinuses....getting older is not all it's cracked up to be....but I wouldn't change a minute of it.

The only problem with quilt shows....all these people give me ideas and then I want to buy everything at the show........

Saturday, October 8, 2011

What a great idea....I just started my blog and I don't have many followers so Lily's Quilts is promoting a great idea. Visit her great blog and go see some of the small bloggers listed. I was amazed and really enjoyed my visits. While you're there...sign your own blog up!

Friday, October 7, 2011

and Dawn over at "As Sweet As Cinnamon" wanted to know why we name our blogs what we do. I woke up a few months ago, fixed my cup of coffee, sat down in front of my computer, realized it was Sunday and for the first time in awhile I didn't have to go to work that day. I made the mistake of reading the first blog.....so I decided I wanted one and of course the first thing they want you to do is choose a name and I was stumped. As I sat and thought about it I realized that I wasn't "living life", I was just running from one crisis to another, always tired and irritable.

Eleven years ago I was diagnosed with throat cancer. They operated and removed my right vocal cord. At first I was devasted because I could talk the paint off the walls prior to the surgery and now all I could do was whisper. I had a feeding tube because I couldn't swallow due to scar tissue. I was angry, scared, depressed...life didn't feel too good......

I was so angry at God for allowing this to happen to me. It took me awhile to wake up, realize that God was the one who got me thru this, the one who held my hand and my heart while I cried, tried to scream, hid from the world. So I picked myself up, dusted me off and went back to work. After laser surgery to remove some of the scar tissue I can now eat, but I still whisper. (There are some people who think this is a good thing)

For those of you who are old enough to remember: "Today is the first day of the rest of your life". Remember that. Well that is what I remind myself every morning with my cup of coffee. I try to cram in as much as possible with a happy heart. Now before you think "awh......", I don't always succeed. I still have my own little pity parties. I still come home some days so tired and stressed I can barely drag from one room to the other.

So I read quilter's blogs and I marvel at the talented and kind people who create them and share them with the rest of the world. I find too many beautiful things that I want to do and don't have time to do. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I AM SO BLESSED!

I can still walk, I can still see, I can still hear and I can still feel......sometimes too much! But I wouldn't trade one minute of it. So you see....I am "Living Life in Louisiana" one day at a time.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Actually it is Thursday morning...but I won't tell if you won't. Last week blogger quit letting me load up pictures so the saga continues this morning. Remember I love pinwheels and this is yet another one I have been working on. All the blocks are made, just need to add the sashing and borders. This one is so happy and bright.

Now once in a while I do other things besides pinwheels. I have a pattern for floating stars and I like to try different fabrics. This is a fairly easy pattern and the best thing is that you don't have to match all those points when you join the blocks.

Here it is made with scraps of some of my older fabrics.

and here with soft victorian florals. I love this one, it is going to be mine when I finish it.

This is just a trial block, but I really like it. It looks like a soft winter quilt. What do you think?

And you know I really fight the urge to join quilt-a-longs on these wonderful blogs, but after looking at these for the last 9 months, I gave in.

I love these blocks and I have been wanting to begin embroidery again, so I joined in at Little Miss Shabby for the birdie blocks. Aren't they just fun! It's not too late for you to join in. There is a new pattern each month.

And of course, being me, I immediately wanted to start a primitive version in browns, blacks and beiges.

So I grabbed my new layer cake of Primitive fabric and started another one. These come in handy when I want to go sew with the girls at the LQS. While they sew, I embroider.

Well, it is time to go get ready for work and I am finding it hard to type because my lap is full with this handsome man: